Despite preparations for the resumption of vote auditing on Saturday, the process was again delayed on account of concerns expressed by the Abdullah Abdullah campaign regarding the criteria used for invalidating fraudulent votes. International and Afghan observers were present at the Independent Election Commission (IEC) on Saturday and ready to start their work but the audit was delayed for another 24 hours. Democracy Internationals Gregory Minjack expressed his disappointment with the delay. We are disappointed, we are here to do our job and when this happens we cannot do our job so we look forward to doing our job and starting tomorrow, Minjack said on Saturday. The United Nations confirmed that it was Abdullahs demand to have his recommendations included in the UNs proposed criteria for invalidating votes that caused the delay. Yesterday evening, we the United Nations and our election experts received a request from his Excellency Dr. Abdullah Abdullah for consultations, said Jan Kubish, the head of the United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA) While the IEC has come under fire throughout this years election process for the series of delays it has faced, the commission on Saturday defended the most recent pushback and said the decision was made by the commissioners. Delaying the process is among the authorities of the IEC, IEC Chairman Ahmad Yousuf Nuristani said. We made the decision considering the national interests of the country, so that if the issue can be resolved in another day, we give them another day. The senior officials from the IEC and UN emphasized that the process would begin promptly early Sunday morning. After todays consolations, we expect that the process of the audit will continue smoothly and without any interruptions, said Kubish. Meanwhile, Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzais camp stressed the importance of moving forward with the process, and accused the Abdullah campaign of creating obstacles to the process. They are constantly making excuses, one they dont agree with one thing and sometimes with another thing, said Daud Sultanzoy, the head of Ashraf Ghanis technical team. Muslim Saadat, a member of Abdullahs camp, responded by arguing that the continuation of the process would be useless unless his teams suggestions are implemented. Unless our suggestions are fulfilled, we cannot continue the process because it will not solve the problem, he said. Both Afghan and international monitoring groups have emphasized the need to complete this years election soon. The dragging-out of the final results has raised concerns about the Afghan economy and national security in recent weeks.
Posted on: Sat, 02 Aug 2014 15:23:01 +0000
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